Beto De Volder
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
BETO DE VOLDER CONTENTS 5 Short Biography 6 Paintings 18 Calados: Wall Reliefs 28 Drawings 44 Beto De Volder In The Studio Brooklyn NY, 2020 48 CV Beto De Volder Untitled 2020 Acrylic on hardboard 11 x 14 in (27.9 x 35.6 cm) 2 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 3 BETO DE VOLDER Beto De Volder’s (b. 1962, Buenos Aires, Argentina) long-standing artistic career and oeuvre stands out as a unique inheritor of Argentine modern- ism and expression. De Volder studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes Manuel Belgrano in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 1986-1989. In the 1990s, De Volder initiated his long-standing artistic career through a seri- ous involvement and participation in Argentine artistic circles. In 1993, De Volder was awarded first prize in painting at the III Bienal de Arte Joven (Third Biennial of Young Artists) in Buenos Aires. Soon thereafter, he was awarded a scholarship by Fundación Antorchas (Buenos Aires) which en- abled him to work in the prestigious Taller de Barracas under the mentor- ship of Luis Fernando Benedit, Pablo Suárez, and Ricardo Longhini (1994 -1996). Until the mid 1990s, De Volder’s practice was both figurative and geometric, reminiscent of cartoon-style street art and replete with sexual motifs, humor and satire. After taking a break from the art world to pursue a career in business, Beto De Volder reentered the Argentine art scene in 2000. Since then, his artistic practice has been characterized by a persistent desire to in- vestigate drawing, color, and the possibilities of the line. Swirling, loop- ing, and undulating, the lines he creates combine artistic precision and slowness with the visual suggestion of movement and speed, and point towards legacies of abstraction in the Rio de la Plata region. His more re- cent work incorporates these themes, but tends to a smaller format, pro- ducing a larger sense of intimacy with the work for both artist and viewer. De Volder has exhibited internationally, featuring in solo and group ex- hibitions in the Americas and Europe. Select group exhibitions in recent years include: The Flag Art Foundation (New York, 2019); Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Buenos Aires (MACBA) (Buenos Aires, 2019); Centro Cultural Borges (Buenos Aires, 2018); Centre Régional d'Art Contem- porain (Montbéliard, France, 2012); Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA) (Buenos Aires, 2011); and The Blanton Museum of Art (Austin, 2011). De Volder’s work can be found in a number of inter- Beto De Volder Photographed by Luciano Jaureguy nationally reputed private and public collections, including those of the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA); Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Buenos Aires (MACBA); and Museo Castagnino de Rosario (Santa Fe, Argentina). De Volder has been based in New York City since 2018. 4 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 5 PAINTINGS De Volder’s incursions into the nature of drawing, and into the possibilities of dark and light led him to explore color and painting in a new mode: in small-format, color-blocking, untitled paisajes (landscapes). In these paintings, De Volder aims to remove the line altogether and to purely paint, prioritizing the medium’s materiality and the color relationships in the composition. Beto De Volder Untitled 2020 Acrylic on hardboard 10 x 10 in (25.4 x 25.4 cm) 6 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 7 Beto De Volder Beto De Volder Untitled Untitled 2020 2020 Acrylic on hardboard Acrylic on hardboard 10 x 10 in (25.4 x 25.4 cm) 11 x 14 in (27.9 x 35.6 cm) 8 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 9 Beto De Volder Beto De Volder Untitled Untitled 2020 2019 Acrylic on hardboard Acrylic and graphite on hardboard 10 x 10 in (25.4 x 25.4 cm) 11 x 14 in (27.9 x 35.6 cm) 10 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 11 Beto De Volder Beto De Volder Untitled Untitled 2020 2020 Acrylic on hardboard Acrylic on hardboard 12 x 12 in (30.5 x 30.5 cm) 12 x 12 in (30.5 x 30.5 cm) 12 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 13 Beto De Volder Beto De Volder Untitled Untitled 2020 2020 Acrylic on hardboard Acrylic on hardboard 12 x 12 in (30.5 x 30.5 cm) 12 x 12 in (30.5 x 30.5 cm) 14 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 15 Beto De Volder Beto De Volder Untitled Untitled 2020 2019 Acrylic and graphite on hardboard Acrylic and graphite on hardboard 11 x 14 in (27.9 x 35.6 cm) 11 x 14 in (27.9 x 35.6 cm) 16 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 17 CALADOS:WALL RELIEFS Since the early 2000s, Beto De Volder’s oeuvre has necessarily been concerned with drawing, color, and the possibilities of the line. The swirling lines he creates, always constantly in movement, naturally originate from age-old traditions of drawing. However, their inspiration also comes from an unlikely source: vintage cartoons of the Tasmanian Devil. Seeing this character on television with his son, De Volder was taken by the animated, graphic swirling that denoted his chaotic and rapid movement. Taking from the Tasmanian Devil, but also from the visual language of comic books, De Volder’s lines suggest unhindered movement. Their potential for speed, however, is juxtaposed with the fact that they’re unmoving, as well as with the slow, dedicated precision needed to create them. The references to cartoons and comic books additionally gesture towards the ludic in De Volder’s work. He refers to his drawings as firuletes— haphazard doodles in spiral shapes— showcasing the playful attitude he permits in creating and describing his work. Though originally presented as works on paper, in recent years the artist has explored these ideas in larger format and especially in his dibujos calados: sculptural, colorful works emphasizing positive and negative, which embody drawing in real space and look humorously to ideas of spontaneity and expression. Untitled (2021) functions as a key example. On a large scale, De Volder has created a set of multiple lines that precisely and meticulously cross over each other in a seemingly uncontrolled fashion. Making them stand out in red, De Volder makes reference to the legacies of color and geometry in Rioplatense modernism. Beto De Volder Untitled 2009 Acrylic on MDF 76 3/4 x 68 1/2 in (194.9 x 174 cm) 18 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 19 Beto De Volder Beto De Volder Untitled Untitled 2004 2007 Acrylic on MDF Acrylic on MDF 38 1/2 x 30 5/8 in (97.8 x 77.8 cm) 35 1/4 x 25 1/4 in (89.5 x 64 cm) 20 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 21 Beto De Volder Untitled 2019 38 x 60 in (96.5 x 152.4 cm) Private Collection, CT 22 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 23 Beto De Volder Untitled 2021 Acrylic on MDF 43 x 60 in (109.2 x 152.4 cm) 24 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 25 Beto De Volder Untitled 2007 Acrylic on MDF 25 x 37 1/2 in (63.5 x 95.3 cm) 26 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 27 DRAWINGS In 2018, Beto De Volder relocated from Buenos Aires to New York, causing a shift in his practice and in his mode of working. In large part, this was due to the lesser amount of space in his new studio, which necessitated that he return to a smaller format. De Volder began to draw alone with a lead pencil, mapping out hundreds undulating, straight, and interlocking lines on white backgrounds and in increasingly complex compositions. These works beseech the viewer to look closely, inviting them into a more intimate view of De Volder’s meticulous and meditative practice. Beto De Volder Untitled 2020 Graphite on clayboard 16 x 20 in (48.6 x 50.8 cm) 28 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 29 Beto De Volder Beto De Volder Untitled Untitled 2020 2020 Graphite on clayboard Graphite on clayboard 8 x 10 in (20.3 x 25.4 cm) 8 x 8 in (20.3 x 20.3 cm) 30 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 31 Beto De Volder Untitled 2021 Graphite on clayboard 11 x 14 in (27.9 x 35.6 cm) 32 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 33 Beto De Volder Untitled 2021 Graphite on clayboard 11 x 14 in (27.9 x 35.6 cm) 34 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 35 Beto De Volder Untitled 2021 Graphite on clayboard 11 x 14 in (27.9 x 35.6 cm) 36 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 37 Beto De Volder Beto De Volder Untitled Untitled 2020 2005 Graphite on clayboard Graphite on paper 11 x 14 in (27.9 x 35.6 cm) 15 x 11 in (38.1 x 27.9 cm) 38 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 39 Beto De Volder Beto De Volder Untitled Untitled 2007 2007 Acrylic on paper Acrylic on paper 14 x 10 in (35.6 x 25.4 cm) 14 x 10 in (35.6 x 25.4 cm) 40 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 41 Beto De Volder Beto De Volder Untitled Untitled 2007 2007 Acrylic on paper Acrylic on paper 14 x 10 in (35.6 x 25.4 cm) 14 x 10 in (35.6 x 25.4 cm) 42 HUTCHINSON MODERN & CONTEMPORARY 47 EAST 64TH STREET, NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10065 43 BETO DE VOLDER IN HIS STUDIO BROOKLYN, 2021 44 HUTCHINSON MODERN &